Nearly 20 years ago,
Colin Firth
was admittedly earnest and Rupert Everett made fun of him for it. Now,
these two vastly different Brits are starring in "The Importance of
Being
Earnest," scheduled for release on May 31.

Everett, openly
gay and bitingly
droll, met straight-man Firth, the knight-in-shining armor of "Bridget
Jones's Diary," when they were making the 1984 film, "Another Country."

"He's a lot
easier to get
along with than he used to be," Firth says of Everett, "and in a lot of
ways, he hasn't changed in the slightest. He was outrageous then, he's
fairly outrageous now. He's very funny, but I tend to not be on the
wrong
end of his humor as much now as I was then. I was terribly earnest, to
coin a phrase, in those days.

"His description
of me is
something along the lines of a ghastly guitar-playing communist ready
to
give his first $500 to charity instead of getting rich. He found that
objectionable.
Of course, it's probably not far from the truth."

Everett, perhaps
best known
by Americans as Julia Roberts' boss in "My Best Friend's Wedding,"
concurs.
"[Colin] was very dull in the old days, strumming on the guitar, one of
those very left-wing university characters, promising to give his first
million dollars to charity—if he ever earned it." Everett pauses,
whimsically
adding, "I'd like to know what happened to that."

Firth says he's
loosened
up a bit and "given in to my superficialities." He still plays the
guitar,
demonstrating his skills in "Earnest," when the two men serenade the
objects
of their affection.

"Like most guys
of my generation,
I wanted to be a rock star," Firth says. "Like most of us, it didn't
happen."

He admits to
being nothing
like Mr. Darcy, whom he portrayed in the BBC's "Pride and Prejudice."
The
image of the perfect gentleman still follows him, though he nearly
turned
the part down because he didn't think he was right for it.

"Women I knew who
were in
love with Mr. Darcy as school girls when they'd studied or read the
book
begged me not to do it because it would ruin their image of this guy."

Everett compares
the more
somber Firth to Winnie the Pooh's dreary friend Eeyore. "He's really
good
at whining," Everett notes. "You can wind Colin up and get him to
complain
about anything."

It's left to
"Earnest" actress
Reese Witherspoon to offer kind words for both co-stars. "Rupert and I
were like fast friends within a day: 'You shut up.' 'No, you shut up.'
He was really supportive and helpful with my accent. He understands
what
it is to sound like an American, the difference and all.

"I'd just loved
Colin's work
for so long, particularly in 'The English Patient,' and all my
girlfriends
think he's such a babe. I'm like, 'Y'all, he's married. He's got a
couple
of kids.' He's still a babe, but you can't tell him that in front of
Rupert
because Rupert gets too jealous."

Firth, 41, and
wife Livia
Giuggioli have a 1-year-old boy, Luca. Firth also has an older son,
Will,
11, with actress Meg Tilly.

"Earnest" stands
as the second
Oscar Wilde-inspired film for Everett, who received critical acclaim
for
his lead role in "An Ideal Husband." It may not be the last. At 46,
Everett
is the same age as the playwright when he died. He says he'd like to
portray
Wilde on screen in the period following his imprisonment for gross
indecency.

"All of the films
about him
always end when he's going to court," Everett says. "I think that's the
part of his life that's really the least interesting because you've got
the plays to speak for that time."